Friday, October 15, 2010
King Herod's Theater Box
An article and photographs about the excavation of King Herod's theater box. Left out of the article is whether or not he watch beheading from this box.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Maryland Water Crossings
A two part video from the Maryland State Highway Administration on water crossings in Maryland, including the Casselman Bridge and Montgomery Meigs' Union Arch Bridge.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Glenna Goodacre - Clay Masher
In the two weeks I have photographed two of the most important works by the American sculptor Glenna Goodacre. I have created a set that include photographs of both the Vietnam Women's Memorial, part of the Vietnam War Memorial on the National Mall, and The Irish Memorial, located at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia. Below the link to the photos, I have included the documentary Clay Masher. In the film she discussing both of the works I have photographed, as well as her work creating the image of Sacagawea that appears on the one dollar coin.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Ed Burtynsky - Oil
A set of photography's of the Deep Water Horizon oil spill by photographer Ed Burtynsky. The photographs accompany this article on guardian.co.uk. Following the link to the photographs is a video on Burtynsky's exhibit Oil that was at the Corcoran Gallery of Art last year.
Deepwater Horizon: Drilling deep, drilling dumb
Edward Burtynsky: Oil from Corcoran Gallery of Art on Vimeo.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Rare Roman Helmet
From National Geographic:
A rare Roman helmet dating to the late first to second century A.D. fetched nearly $3.6 million dollars at a London auction on October 7.
The bronze helmet and face mask was discovered in May 2010 by a treasure hunter using a metal detector in a field in Cumbria, a county in northwestern England.
The helmet was described by Christie's auction house as "an extraordinary example of Roman metalwork at its zenith."
Both the sellers and winning bidder have remained anonymous.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Secretariat
I saw Secretatriat today, and while I wouldn't say it is a great film, it was entertaining. Highest marks go to the sound track for including both the Staple Singers singing "I'll Talk You Their" and the Edwin Hawkins Singers performing "Oh Happy Day". And the songs went really well with the scenes they accompanied. As expected, Diane Lane does a great job portraying Penny Chenery, Secretariat's owner. The Horse who portrays Secretariat does a great job also, but he does not seem to be credited.
[Added 10/12/10: I see from this Slate article that it was actually ten horses who played Secretariat.]
Almost more entertaining than the film though is the brawl that erupted last week over the film between Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com and Roger Ebert. O'Hehir wrote a review ripping the film and comparing it to Nazi propaganda. Then Ebert wrote a scathing retort implying that the original review was insane, and O'Hehir responded back. I have to say that I agree mostly with Ebert. Sometimes a movies about a horse is just a movie about a horse. I mean it is a Disney film after all, not exactly a major source of social criticism. Here are the articles.
O'Hehir's review
Ebert's response
O'Hehir's rebuttal
Here is video of the real Secretariat winning the Belmont stakes followed by the trailer for the movie.
[Added 10/12/10: I see from this Slate article that it was actually ten horses who played Secretariat.]
Almost more entertaining than the film though is the brawl that erupted last week over the film between Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com and Roger Ebert. O'Hehir wrote a review ripping the film and comparing it to Nazi propaganda. Then Ebert wrote a scathing retort implying that the original review was insane, and O'Hehir responded back. I have to say that I agree mostly with Ebert. Sometimes a movies about a horse is just a movie about a horse. I mean it is a Disney film after all, not exactly a major source of social criticism. Here are the articles.
O'Hehir's review
Ebert's response
O'Hehir's rebuttal
Here is video of the real Secretariat winning the Belmont stakes followed by the trailer for the movie.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
The Social Network
Today I saw The Social Network, the film about the creation of Facebook starring Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, the Harvard student behind the worldwide phenomenon. Andrew Garfield plays Eduardo Saverin, Zuckerberg's friend who provided the initial capital to start the site when it was originally open only to Harvard student. Of the films that I have discussed on this site, this is the third one that Garfield has starred in, having performed in both Never Let Me Go and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. He is beginning to make quite a name for himself.
Back to this film. It has deservedly been given rave reviews. I accept that the facts have been played with rather loosely. But even if it does not stand as an historical record of the creation of Facebook, it is still a superbly crafted film. It probably has one of the best scripts written in recent years, and I doubt that many films of this length have squeezed in so much dialog. It seems to me that this film could have easily careened out of control, but the director, David Fincher, has managed to turn out a very coherent and tight film. This is all the more of an achievement given that the film is composed of flashbacks interspersed with scenes from depositions for the law suits that were spawned out of the entire endeavor. The integration of these two sequences is seamless, and I never felt lost going back and forth.
A lot of the talk has been about how much of an asshole Zuckerberg is portrayed as. I would say that Zuckerberger is portrayed as rather human. While he may be a bit insensitive, I am not sure that he acts that much worse than most other 20 year old's would in his situation. On the other hand, if I were the Winklevoss twins I think I would be more that a little upset. These are the two brothers who end up suing Zuckerberg alleging that he stole the idea for Facebook from them. I can only hope that they are not the same ninnies in real life, that are portrayed in the film. But they certainly add mirth to whole thing. My favorite scene is when the Winklevoss twins go to visit Mr. Tactless himself, then Harvard President Larry Summers.
While I liked just about everything about the film, I would have to say that the film could not have succeeded without Jesse Eisenberg's adept performance. Many actors can give sympathetic performance for sympathetic characters, but it takes a lot more skill when you have a less than sympathetic character to start with.
I had forgotten until I was watching the film that the outdoor scenes of Harvard were actually shot at Johns Hopkins. I remember now that some of the students were upset at the time of the filming. They found it a bit disrespectful to be made to play the stand in for Harvard. Regardless of that, I thought the University looked pretty good.
A couple clips:
Back to this film. It has deservedly been given rave reviews. I accept that the facts have been played with rather loosely. But even if it does not stand as an historical record of the creation of Facebook, it is still a superbly crafted film. It probably has one of the best scripts written in recent years, and I doubt that many films of this length have squeezed in so much dialog. It seems to me that this film could have easily careened out of control, but the director, David Fincher, has managed to turn out a very coherent and tight film. This is all the more of an achievement given that the film is composed of flashbacks interspersed with scenes from depositions for the law suits that were spawned out of the entire endeavor. The integration of these two sequences is seamless, and I never felt lost going back and forth.
A lot of the talk has been about how much of an asshole Zuckerberg is portrayed as. I would say that Zuckerberger is portrayed as rather human. While he may be a bit insensitive, I am not sure that he acts that much worse than most other 20 year old's would in his situation. On the other hand, if I were the Winklevoss twins I think I would be more that a little upset. These are the two brothers who end up suing Zuckerberg alleging that he stole the idea for Facebook from them. I can only hope that they are not the same ninnies in real life, that are portrayed in the film. But they certainly add mirth to whole thing. My favorite scene is when the Winklevoss twins go to visit Mr. Tactless himself, then Harvard President Larry Summers.
While I liked just about everything about the film, I would have to say that the film could not have succeeded without Jesse Eisenberg's adept performance. Many actors can give sympathetic performance for sympathetic characters, but it takes a lot more skill when you have a less than sympathetic character to start with.
I had forgotten until I was watching the film that the outdoor scenes of Harvard were actually shot at Johns Hopkins. I remember now that some of the students were upset at the time of the filming. They found it a bit disrespectful to be made to play the stand in for Harvard. Regardless of that, I thought the University looked pretty good.
A couple clips:
Never Let Me Go
I was able to see Never Let Me Go last weekend. This is the film that I thought I was going to see when I went to see Easy A. This time I got the right film.
The film is based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro—which I have not read—and stars Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield. The characters played by these three actors are all donors who have been apparently cloned, and raised so that their organs can be harvested and used to save the lives of regular members of society. The donations will continue until the donors no longer are able to survive without the organs they have donated and then, in the words of the film, they complete.
The film starts when the characters are school children being raised at a cloistered boarding school in England. At a point fairly early in the film the children find out the truth about their situation, which up until this time they have been oblivious to.
The film then jumps ahead several years to when the three have graduated from the school, and are sent out into the real world to wait to be called to begin their donations. Of course, having been raised without any contact with the outside world, they are ill prepared for this change.
The film has gotten mixed reviews, with only a 65% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, I have to say that I liked it quite a lot. Some of criticism has centered on the fact that the film deals mostly with the relationships of the three main characters, and the ethical issues raised by the entire situation that has created them is not really dealt with in the film. This is a valid criticism, but I appreciated the fact that the film focused on the outstanding performances of the three actors, and did not go for the sensationalism that could easily have been generated in a film on this topic. The film does have a languid pace, so if you want a fast moving, melodramatic film skip this one. If you want to see some great acting, and a finely directed film you probably could not do better. On top of that Charlotte Rampling play the headmistress of the school.
The film is based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro—which I have not read—and stars Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield. The characters played by these three actors are all donors who have been apparently cloned, and raised so that their organs can be harvested and used to save the lives of regular members of society. The donations will continue until the donors no longer are able to survive without the organs they have donated and then, in the words of the film, they complete.
The film starts when the characters are school children being raised at a cloistered boarding school in England. At a point fairly early in the film the children find out the truth about their situation, which up until this time they have been oblivious to.
The film then jumps ahead several years to when the three have graduated from the school, and are sent out into the real world to wait to be called to begin their donations. Of course, having been raised without any contact with the outside world, they are ill prepared for this change.
The film has gotten mixed reviews, with only a 65% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, I have to say that I liked it quite a lot. Some of criticism has centered on the fact that the film deals mostly with the relationships of the three main characters, and the ethical issues raised by the entire situation that has created them is not really dealt with in the film. This is a valid criticism, but I appreciated the fact that the film focused on the outstanding performances of the three actors, and did not go for the sensationalism that could easily have been generated in a film on this topic. The film does have a languid pace, so if you want a fast moving, melodramatic film skip this one. If you want to see some great acting, and a finely directed film you probably could not do better. On top of that Charlotte Rampling play the headmistress of the school.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Picture ot the Day - 10/8/2010
One hell of a long extension ladder. This is on the back side of the District of Columbia Courts Building
Thursday, October 7, 2010
British wildlife photography awards
A set of photographs on guardian.co.uk of the British Wildlife Photography Award winners.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Small Change
Malcolm Gladwell's contrarian New Yorker article about the social impact of Twitter has set off a reaction in the blogosphere. I am not sure if I agree that the impact of Twitter on social change is so much smaller than popularly believed, but Gladwell always makes good arguments. Here is a link to the article.
Philadelphia
A few downtown Philadelphia photographs from last weekend, mostly buildings and sculptures. Independence Hall is currently encased in scaffolding so I did not take any photographs of it.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Civil War Photos to LOC
Tom Liljenquist has donated his collection of almost 700 Civil War photographs to the Library of Congress. The Washington Post has an article with complete details.
Here is a slide show of some of the photographs.
Here is a slide show of some of the photographs.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Picture ot the Day - 10/4/2010
No this is not a fountain of Pepto-Bismol. This is a version of Richard Indiana's Love sculpture, in front of the fountain in Love Park, Philadelphia. The fountain has been dyed pink for Breast Cancer Awareness.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Flooding at the Fairmount Water Works
I was in Philadelphia last Friday and went to Fairmount Park on the Schuylkill River. This was just as a tropical rain—dropping over 10 inches of water upstream—was ending. The dam at the Fairmount Water Works usually has a fairly gentle water fall, but when I was there the water was gushing over the dam, flooding the water works and creating quite a mess. It is hard to capture in photographs how dramatic the scene was, particularly since the way the place is built you can stand right at the edge of the dam and look straight down into it. Here are some pictures of the flooding and some other scenes around the park.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
NYC by Alfred Stieglitz
A collection of photographs of New York City. taken by Alfred Stieglitz in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Britain from the Air
The BBC has a slide show with audio from a exhibition of photographs called Britain from the Air, including the photograph below of Sultan the Pit Pony.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Elizabeth Gaskell
Today is the bicentennial of the birth of British novelist Elizabeth Gaskell. Much of her work dealt with issues created by the rapid industrialization of mid-19th century England. This week a stained glass window honoring her was added to the Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey.
In the last decade Gaskell has found renewed prominence based of the BBC's cinematic adaptations of several of here novels. Below is a trailer and a clip from two of those films.
Trailer for North & South.
An amusing scene from Cranford.
In the last decade Gaskell has found renewed prominence based of the BBC's cinematic adaptations of several of here novels. Below is a trailer and a clip from two of those films.
Trailer for North & South.
An amusing scene from Cranford.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Picture ot the Day - 9/28/2010
I don't know if this is a sign of a hard winter to come, but the squirrels were going crazy gathering nuts between the Capitol Building and Union Station this evening.
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